HI all,
To introduce myself: I'm not, strictly speaking, an
Internet researcher, but I greatly value the work you all do and I have a
particular interest in this topic (being a musician of sorts). I edit an
on-line journal devoted to Australian public policy, which we view as an
exercise in e-democracy (see www.onlineopinion.com.au).
To get back to the point, I get tired of seeing
these reports about research conducted by "professional" research firms, often
financed by one side of the debate or the other, which are essentially based on
self-reported behaviour (rather akin to the old tobacco industry-financed
studies showing that smoking did not *cause* cancer). These studies are
highly methodologically unreliable, and seldom provide a thorough account of the
methods used. They are also highly politically senstive and almost always
used to beat up one side of the debate or the other.
Does anyone know of any rigorous academic research
into this question? I'd love to get my hands on some as part of a
literature review I'm doing for an informal (ie not attached to any university)
study I'm undertaking in my spare time (such as it is), using my own music,
web-design skills and hypotheses.
Please let me know of anything that might
help.
Cheers,
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2002 12:16
PM
Subject: [Air-l] Internet file sharing
boosts music sales
Here is an interesting report from Reuters which
undercuts many of the intellectual property arguments related to online file
sharing...
Internet File-sharing Boosts Music Sales, Report
Says
May 03, 2002 16:20:35
(ET)
WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - Internet
users who download songs for free from unauthorized "peer to peer" services
are more likely to increase their music purchases than regular Internet users,
according to a report released on Friday.